Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

For the scones:

☐   2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour

☐   1/2 cup (100g) sugar

☐   1/2 tsp salt

☐   2 ½ tsp baking powder

☐   1 stick good butter (go for a higher fat, European-style butter like Strauss or Kerrygold) – keep it cold!

☐   1/2 cup heavy cream

☐   1 egg

☐   Zest of 1 large lemon

☐   1 tbsp of poppy seeds

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment. You can grease the baking sheet, but this not my favorite as it can make soggy bottoms on the scones.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.  Cut in the cold butter – I used to do this with a pastry cutter, but now I do it with my fingers and I like the outcome much better.  To do this, cut the butter into smaller pieces (cut the stick into ~16 cubes) and put it in the bowl with the dry ingredients.  Rub the butter and flour mix between your fingers – the goal is to make fingernail-sized flat flakes, but don’t obsess too much.  Have fun, make a mess, have a glass of prosecco. 

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the cream, egg, lemon zest and poppy seeds.  Drizzle over the butter mixture and combine – I do this with my hands (which are messy already, so why not!?) until everything is moistened and the seeds and zest seems well dispersed. 

Put the dough onto a lightly-floured surface or cutting board.  You want to be sure that you don’t work the dough too much and that the butter doesn’t get too warm.  Depending on the temp in your house, you can pop these guys in the fridge for 10 min to cool them.  Anyway, work fairly quickly – I use a lightly floured rolling pin or my hands and shape it into a rectangle – about an inch or so thick (so like about 8”x12” in size).  Cut the rectangle into 4 quarters – and then cut each of the smaller rectangles on the diagonal to make a total of 8 long triangles. 

Put these on the lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until they are lightly golden.

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For the lemon glaze:

☐   1 cup powdered sugar

☐   3 tbsp lemon juice

Toward the end of the baking time, make the lemon glaze.  Using a whisk, combine the sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. 

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When the scones are done baking, move them to a wire rack to cool that is positioned over another baking sheet (or just be ok with a little glaze mess!).  Let the scones cool about 5-8 min (they should be warm, but not hot) and then drizzle the glaze over the top – you can cover them or drizzle in a zigzag pattern if you want to be fancy.  😊 

Happy baking!!